


Water for Chocolate

by rlb190



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9643634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlb190/pseuds/rlb190
Summary: When Carla Yeager moves away from her husband and in with her estranged (and secretly gay) son Eren, a chef at a failing restaurant, the pair must learn to reconnect while facing the foreclosure of the restaurant and Eren's stubborn fear of intimacy. AU!





	1. Chapter 1

In the middle of the night a woman sat, hands crossed in her lap, on the last train out of Shiganshina. Upon closer inspection, one might get a better look at the woman, who up close looked a bit older than her forty or so years. With tired brown eyes framed with tired wrinkles, slightly disheveled black hair pulled into a side pony tail, and a suitcase on the floor next to her feet, one might assume that she was on the run from something. But she wasn't. She was going towards something. At least she hoped.

The train lurched to a stop. "Trost District!" came a voice over the speaker.

Carla Yeager grabbed her bag and headed off the train, being careful not to trip over her long yellow skirt, an act she had mastered over the years with a certain amount of éclat. Now on the platform, she looked down at the small piece of paper that she had carried close with her the entire trip. It had an address to an apartment complex.

Carla typed it into her phone, an older model that she had gotten for a good price. Her husband on the other hand spared no expense, needing an all-purpose phone for his work....

No. she gently chided herself. Don't think about him!

Carla nodded, vigor returned, and headed off in the direction the phone had pointed her, and it wasn't but five minutes until she arrived at a large apartment building with scratches on the windows and graffiti on the walls. She felt a strike of panic in her. What if he said he hated her? What if he didn't let her in?

Carla put a hand over heart and took a breath. No, it was alright. He was her son, after all.

She inspected the names on the panel next to the door, some of them were written on paper that was old and yellowed, the ink long faded int he dry sun. She found his name, and pressed the button next to it. It buzzed.

"Hello?" came a voice form the other side. Her heart raced. She froze, unable to move. A truck drove by behind Carla, its engine loud enough to be heard throughout the neighborhood.

"Hello?" The voice asked again, cackling with static. This snapped Carla back to life. She pressed the button to talk back to him.

"Wrong person, sorry!" she squeaked. She sighed and put her hand on her chest. Why was she so nervous? This was her own flesh and blood, after all! She carried him in her womb for nine months for Pete's sake! She could do this.

She was about to ring again when the door in front of her suddenly opened. Carla jumped, and so did the woman opening the door.

"Aah!" The woman placed a hand to her chest, just as Carla had a few moments ago. The other woman was wearing a type of scrubs and was carrying a white jacket in her arms. Carla guessed she was a doctor of some sort, on her way to the midnight shift.

"S-sorry!" Carla exclaimed.

The woman took a deep breath to calm herself, and then smiled. "Sheesh, no worries! You just scared me!"

The woman adjusted her glasses and her brown pony tail.

"Who're you here for? Can you reach them?" The woman asked.

Carla put a hand on her suitcase handle.

"Um, Eren. Eren Yeager. I'm his mother."

The other woman's eyebrows rose. "Oh. Oh, yeah, okay, sure. I'm Hanji Zoe, but the way. His neighbor." Carla nodded. "Carla. Pleased to meet you."

Hanji tilted her head in curiosity before holding the door open wide enough for Carla to slip in. "Here, you can go on in. He's on the fifth floor. Apartment 5C." Carla took the offered door with a grateful smile.

"Thank you." She said, nodding a little. Hanji waved her fingers. "Good luck!" Just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone. Carla let the door shut behind her before looking around the little lobby. There was hallway, which she sound discovered, led to washing machines, ad mailboxes, along with an elevator with a sign that said "out of order" on it.

The opposite hallway did, while smelling distinctly of cat pee, lead to stairs, which Carla took up to fifth floor, lugging her suitcase behind her. With each step her heartbeat increased in intensity, thumping like a rabbit trapped my a wolf.

She exited the stairway and went down a brightly lit hallway, counting the doors until reached 5C. She raised her hand to knock, but hesitated.

What if he doesn't love me anymore?

That was a ridiculous thought. Carla shook her head.

What if he thinks I don't love him?

Now that was scary.

Carla brought her hand back up with new vigor and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" a voice called from the other side of the door, sending shivers of nerves down Carla's spine.

The lock clicked open and the door opened. He was looking down, his emerald eyes distracted with something.

"Hanji, I swear to god I'm not making you any more food unless you buy the-!" he looked up. Carla could barely breathe. He was still the same, if a bit older looking. Tan skin and a mop of brown hair, long and lean, and those emerald green eyes that Carla had seen grow and mature over 19 years.

She mustered a weak smile. "Hello, Eren."

Eren stared at her, mouth slightly open in shock. He blinked. Once, twice.

"Mom?"


	2. Chapter 2

 

_"Mom?_ "

She gave a smile.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, slightly puzzled, but obviously delighted at seeing his mother. There was an awkward moment where Eren moved his hands for a moent, unsure of what to do. Carla pulled his hands close to her and brought him in for a hug. It was closed off, a little stiff and awkward, but it held the emotions of 19 years in its grasp.

Carla loved it.

Eren pulled away, examining her at arm's length, his emerald eyes filled with concern.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing happened." Carla said, almost at once, much too quickly. She smiled. Eren smiled.

God, this was awkward.

"You look skinny." Carla said, looking her lean son up and down. "You eating okay?" Carla felt her mother instinct kick in, worried for her child who had disappeared from her life two years ago.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Eren said.

Carla gave another smiled and looked around the decrepit hallway. "Why is there so few people here in such a large building?" Carla asked, noting the absence of more souls.

"Some party downtown." Eren muttered, leaning on his door frame, crossing his arms. Carla felt her nerve dissolve.

"I should, uh, let you get back to your home." She said, lifting her suitcase up, about to turn away.

"W-wait." Eren called after her, his voice little over a hoarse whisper.

"What's with all the stuff?" he asked, a hint of hope in his voice. He wanted her to say she left his father. He wanted to know that Carla was finally out, that it was finally done.

It stayed quiet. Carla looked down, hesitating. She then looked up, setting her suitcase on the cracked title floor. "Can I stay with you for a little while?" she asked pleasantly.

"What happened?" Eren asked. He wasn't going to leave this alone.,

"Nothing happened." Carla said, assuring her son. She changed the subject again.

"Is it alright? I mean-." She stopped herself, trying to calm down. She was so nervous at seeing her son, her only child, again. "I promise I won't be in your way."

It was Eren's turn to study her now, from her blackened hair turning grey to her long yellow skirt and white blouse, her stunning brown eyes that could melt any frozen heart.

"Well, yeah, I guess."

Carla stared at him.

"Yeah, of course. Of course you can." Eren corrected himself, giving his mother the full insurance she so desperately required.

Eren looked behind him, over into apartment, and then back at his mother.

"Uh, give me a sec."

Carla nodded.

Eren opened the latch for his lock and let is rest on the frame, keeping to door opened he disappeared into his apartment.

He was proud of the little place, the kitchen being what had sold him on the apartment. One bedroom, two bathrooms, and the walls were painted this dazzling dark blue. The whole layout of the flat faced a large set of windows that let the skylight into his place. It was certainly beautiful.

But unlike his apartment, Eren was not.

"Shit!" He hissed.

The apartment was a mess. Eren sprinted, throwing old takeout containers into the trash, bunching up all of his clothes strewn over the place and dragging them into his bedroom. He shoved the clothes into his hamper and then messily threw the comforter onto his bed. His took his uh- special- magazines and threw them onto a shelf into his closet.

They were in the closet.

How fucking ironic.

His mother, the one who stood by and let his father throw him out of the house, was now at his doorstep needing a place to stay. He had called her a coward the last time they had seen one another, nearly two years ago, but he had hated the fact that it was the way they had said goodbye.

He knew that she had done a lot to keep his father away from him, directing his anger towards her. He was always grateful for that. But she was a coward.

He should shut the door in her face.

He sighed.

Eren finished straightening up his room and headed out into his slightly more presentable apartment, heading for the door, but then stopped himself. He veered back into his bedroom and grabbed off of his dresser a pack of condoms and shoved them into the drawer where he kept his socks.

That would have been bad.

He rushed back out to the door and opened it, slightly breathless from the race around his apartment. He took his mother's suitcase from her and propped the door open with his foot.

"Come in."

Carla gave a small bow and walked in, Eren following her from behind.

Carla gave the place a once over. If she was appalled by anything, she didn't show it.

Eren set the suitcase down next to the island counter, near the kitchen.

"You hungry?"

 

* * *

 

Eren had sent Carla to his bedroom to unpack. He remembered from various trips that the family had taken that she disliked having to like out of suitcases. Although she had volunteered to take the couch, Eren insisted that she take his bedroom.

"You'll feel more comfortable there. And I won't bother you when I leave for work early in the morning." He had explained, leading his mother into his rather small but charming bedroom.

He was over his stove, using his hands to ball a combination of dried chickpeas with parsley and flour, along with other various spices. He was making his mother's favorite dish from when she was a child, falafel. It was also what he made at the restaurant. Funnily enough, it was actually her brother's restaurant that he had opened when their family moved from overseas, before Carla had met his father.

Eren had acatuly spent a lot of his time here; learning to cook from his equally estranged uncle Nimir. When Eren left home, he stayed with Nimir and Nimir's husband until Nimir passed away after getting hit by a train a year ago. It was tragic and unexpected, and Eren was crushed. No one from his side of the family showed up to the funeral. Afterwards, Eren discovered that Nimir had left the restaurant to him.

It was both a blessing and curse.

Now the restaurant was failing, unable to allure customers in for a bite to eat. Of course, his mother didn't know that. Eren had to make sure it stayed that way.

Suddenly, hands busy frying the fitters, his phone rang. Eren dropped the last two balls into the pot with oil he had placed on his stove and wiped his hands on his jeans. Taking the old fashioned flip phone from his pocket, he opened it.

_Hello?_ Eren asked.

**_Eren, It's Mikasa_ ** **.**

Mikasa, his best friend. They had met nearly 9 months ago, back when Mikasa was left by her hose-faced fiancée at the altar and needed a job. He had respected her cool temper and hired her on the spot as the hostess. She basically took care of the business behind the restaurant, when there was any, at least.

_Mikasa, now's not a good time._

**_I know, I know, but hear me out on this. I got an idea to get the place back and running._ **

_Mikasa-_

**_We can have a ladies night! Half off drinks every Thursday? Yes? No?_ **

Eren sighed.

_Sure, that sounds great, if we could even afford that! Anyways, now really isn't a good time_

**_Why? You have a boy over there I don't know about?_ **

_Uh, no._

_Eren looked around for his mother, and then lowered his voice._

_Uh, my mother's here. She's staying with me for awhile._

_There was silence on the other end._

_Mikasa?_

**_What's she like?_ **

_Everything I remember her to be. Loving, caring, in an in your face kind of way._

**_Are you alright?_ **

_Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'll be in tomorrow morning by 6, okay?_

**_Okay. Uh, good luck, I guess?_ **

_Thanks._

He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the stove, scooping out the crispy brown rounds with a slotted spoon and placing them on a paper towel to drain the oil off of them. He placed them onto a new plate when Carla came back into the room, nearly tripping over the bicycle that Eren rode to and from work every day, which he had carelessly placed leaning on the hallway.

"You alright?" he asked, keeping his eyes down on the dirt dishes in front of him.

"Yes." Carla said, nodding in confirmation. She awkwardly maneuvered her way onto a longer chair that sat on the island counter; her feet dangled a good foot away from the floor. Eren set the falafel in front of her.

"Oh, thank you dear!" Carla exclaimed, either extremely happy to or pretty good at faking it. Eren also set down a fork and knife in front of Carla. He remembered how she had always disliked messy things. She grateful picked up the fork.

"So, uh, you bought this place?"

Eren dumped paper towel stained with oil into the trash and began to wipe down his counter.

"Yep."

"You have a big mortgage to pay?"

"Yep."

Oh god, this wasn't working.

"You don't clean too much around here, do you?" Carla asked. Damn, she noticed that Eren had tried to tidy up a bit!

"Uh, no."

Carla picked up the knife and broke into the first fitter, letting the gentle smell of red pepper float into the apartment. She loved spicy foods, and Eren knew it.

"How can you live like this?" she asked. "The only part of your house that is clean is your kitchen."

Eren kind of shrugged his shoulders and placed the parsley he had used into the fridge, which was bare expect for a few beers and some other odd end things.

"Did you get robbed?" Carla asked, and Eren couldn't tell if she was serious.

"Yeah, mom. I did, and they only raided the fridge."

Carla winced, Eren regretted it.

Shit.

"What do you eat?" Carla asked, now working on his second flaffel with her fork and knife.

"I eat at the restaurant." Eren replied, dumping the oil into a plastic container. It was new, so he could use it a few more times until its taste went sour.

"So, you're a cook, but you don't cook? No wonder you don't look so good." Carla commented on Eren's slightly- sickly appearance. It was actually due to more stress than food but Eren wasn't going to say that.

"Mom, everything is fine. I'm fine. It's all fine, okay?"

"Okay." Carla said, putting her hands up in a "don't-shoot" kind of manner. Even almost on the streets, she could still be a nagger.

She quietly finished her food while Eren cleaned up. This was going to be a long few days.

If it was going to be a few days at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For me, food has always been resounding with family. A lot of memories are made in the kitchen, and decades of family tradition can be revived through recipes. Making those recipes of our ancestors, those who came before us and those who brought us life, can be magical. I happen to think it's profoundly beautiful in all forms.
> 
> Eren's mom never really got to show how much love she had for her kids, so I think it's high time that someone showed it.
> 
> That's what this fic is about. Family, food, relationships, and love. Finding elegance among the chaos when searching for life's purpose.
> 
> or something along those lines idk man.


	3. Chapter 3

Eren woke up at the butt crack of dawn. He was running late. Normally he left at 4am to prepare for the day, but his mother being around made him so stressed out that he had forgotten to set his alarm. Thus, the butt crack of dawn.

He hated getting up so early sometimes.

He navigated his way quietly in his bedroom with his mother still sleeping to grab his clothes for the day. The only good thing about being the owner of a failing business was that you got to decide the dress code. Taking his clothes with a surprising amount of stealth, he quickly showered and changed, heading at the door with his bike just as the sky was starting to turn yellow.

He biked the five blocks of so to the restaurant and wished on the rise there that he had grabbed a jacket. The last view days of winter were still coming back to bite before the weather truly got warmer. He enjoyed he long bike rides, but he had to move a quicker pace then he'd like this morning, since he was running late.

He rounded the corner, stopping in front of his restaurant, called Titan's Wall. He liked the place. It was old looking but somewhat endearing, well, for being on the side of the road in a strip mall.

Eren got off of his bike and dragged it around to the back of the building, locking it into place with his two bike locks, one on the wheel and one on the body. Maybe it was a little too perspicacious, but what could he do? This was a bad neighborhood.

He used his keys to unlock the backdoor and walked in. At once, he was greeted by the familiar smells of stale oil and sugar. Armin, the 'bust boy' who took care of all the upkeep of the restaurant part time while going to medical school, often complained that it smelled like a heart attack waiting to happen, but Eren liked it. It felt like home to him.

Eren turned on the light and put on an apron from the hooks next to the door and washed his hands, getting started at once for the bake-fried sweet breads that were a best seller. Well, when they sold any at all. It was maybe 50 a day, not enough to support the place.

He threw together the ingredients, flour, butter, sugar, and the yeast. With practiced skill, he dumped it out onto the counter and kneaded it until it was springy. While it rested, he took a metal tray and greased it with butter so when the sweet bread would bake it wouldn't stick to the pan. After it would bake, Eren would fry it and serve it warm. He re-worked the dough and laid it out onto the counter.

The back door jingled open. It was Mikasa, wearing a red scarf over a brown jacket she set her bag down and rubbed her hands together before taking off the jacket and the scarf.

"How was it?"

"It was alright." Eren said, making the dough in round little shapes.

"What's she like?" Mikasa asked, putting on the apron that was on the hook near the door. She went over to the sink and washed her hands, joining Eren. This was routine; Eren would make the dough before she arrived and would be shaping them into balls, and Mikasa dusted each little rounded shape with powdered sugar and put it on a greased tray to be baked

"Uh, kind. Caring. Nagging." Eren muttered.

"Huh."

"What?" Eren asked, suddenly annoyed. Mikasa had a way of doing that, knowing him better than everyone.

"I was just was expecting two horns and a pitchfork, from the way you were describing her before."

Eren sighed, handing her a rounded little ball, which she rolled in powdered sugar. "Well, she's just a little- oh, I don't know. Intense."

"Ah, okay then."

Eren dropped the doughy ball he was holding and faced Mikasa.

" _Yes_?" he asked.

Mikasa put her hands up, covered in the white powdered sugar. "Nothing, nothing. It just seems a little strange that after all this time, you getting thrown out and all, that you'd let her stay with you."

"She's my mother. Maybe not my parent, but she's my mom." Eren retorted. Mikasa looked back down and picked up the dough ball that Eren had set down and dropped it into the powdered sugar.

"I get it."

* * *

 

It wasn't until about ten in the morning when Carla got up. She had a feeling Eren would be gone, but it still was odd to be alone in his apartment by herself. So she did what she did best; she cleaned.

Starting from the counter tops and working her way down to the floor, she wiped and scrubbed and cleaned until everything was glossy and like new. The wooden floors beneath her feet were gleaming, and three loads of laundry were done, ironed, folded, and put away when she finally sat down onto the couch.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And, yeah, this was weird.

For moment, she reflected on her son, and her husband. She had been so much in love when she married Grisha, but his work and his drinking took a toll on their relationship. He was kinder when Eren was first born. But, things changed, she supposed. Eren started arguing with his father a lot more, until it was constant, and their bitter hate crept into their blood, their bones, like a bad infection. Things began to rot, and when Eren was 17, Grisha kicked Eren out.

Carla wondered if Eren blamed her. He had every right. She loved Eren, but she hadn't loved him enough to stop Grisha from kicking him out. Grisha refused to let Carla talk to Eren, and, well, that really couldn't be helped.

Occasionally, Carla would send money. Small bills that wouldn't be missed from the bank account or her wallet, carefully hidden her tampon box in their bathroom. Pretty smart huh? Hiding in plain sight.

That was how she got his address, after he got a job with her brother, his uncle, at his restaurant, before her brother died, her brother called her with an address. Namir had given her hope.

Her brother had been the scapegoat of the family since after they immigrated to the United States from Turkey. Instead of bringing home a girl, he brought home a boy. Carla hadn't seen him, or even talked to him, in almost twenty years until he called her, telling her that he had Eren and that he was okay.

That's when they started talking. She learned her brother had gotten sick, really sick with HIV. He and his… whoever, took care of Eren until his death. Eren got the apartment, and her brother's partner disappeared without a trace. It was sad. Very sad. She certainly had her regrets.

Carla sighed and stood up, brushing her yellow skirt down flat. She couldn't just sit here and reflect for this long. She guessed Eren would get off work at 10pm, she had to find a way to keep occupied...

* * *

 

Eren called Hanji.

Hanji picked up after two rings.

“Hello?”

Eren sighed, rubbing his head. “Hanji, are you busy right now?”

“ **No! _Let’s go, let’s go!”_**  
Eren wanted to slap her. “Are you in an ambulance?”

_ “I’m driving as fast as I can!” _

“ **Well, drive faster!”**

‘Hanji-.”

_** “I need medical equipment now! ** _ _**”**_ Hanji exclaimed away from the phone.  “ **What’s up**?”

“Hanji, if you’re busy-''

**‘No, no-** _**I need an IV line, no- Isabel hook him up to the saline!**_ **Is it about your mom?’**

Eren rubbed the back of his head, feeling like he wanted to puke. “She’s getting bored here. She's probably cleaned my whole apartment by now."

“ **About time.”** Hanji laughed into the phone. “ ** _Put in a ventilator! Jesus, Marco have you even put a tube down someone’s throat? Don’t go in his stomach!”_ ** There was a stream of curses from the other end.

**“Anyways, Eren, maybe you should take the day off. Spend some time with her. Show her the sights of the city- _I need gauze over here, people! Blood pressure?”_**

‘What sights?’ Eren muttered. “Besides, I can’t take the day off from work. We’re already losing money enough as it is."

  _ **He’s going into shock. Get a blanket, Marco, don’t you dare move that finger from his aorta or so help me I will skin you alive!”**_ Hanji cleared her throat. “ **Anyways, Eren, if you’re asking, I can hang out with your mom when I get off my shift. We can Zumba, it’ll be fun! But you owe me.”**

“Thanks, Hanji, you’re a life saver.”

** “I know! Later!” **

Eren sighed as he hung up the phone. Maybe this was going to work.

That night, Eren got off work at 6pm. The place was practically dead when he wordlessly slipped the sign to 'Closed'.

Armin went back to his apartment to study, and Mikasa and Eren went out to a local bar. It was called _Titian_ or something like that, but mostly the two used it to get wasted and rarely paid attention to the name.

It was cheap, and they sometimes had live bands. Like tonight.

Eren was nursing a beer, the second one he had all night, which was strange because normally he would be completely tossed, but he remembered that his mother was staying with him. He figured it wouldn't be a very good thing for him to come home underage and drunk.

Sometimes he forgot how young he was, only 19. It seemed like he was a lot older. No one bothered to ID him. He looked old enough and he was a paying customer. Management didn't really complain.

Mikasa was also nursing her third cocktail of the night. Eren looked down at his beer as the band began to set up. He didn't really pay much mind to the bands. Most of them were pretty bad, just wanting a gig to get their name out.

Mikasa nudged Eren with her knee, and he looked up.

"What?" Eren sighed. Mikasa shrugged. "You seem stressed."

"I am. I'm the owner of a failing business."

"I work at your failing business. Your career depends on my happiness. And so on."

Eren rolled his eyes. Mikasa used to date a guy named Jean- whatever the fuck fancy French- until he cheated on her. She was pretty heartbroken, and that's when Eren's uncle hired her to help around the restaurant.

Mikasa grinned, glad to get another reaction out of Eren, who sighed and grinned.

"Okay, okay. I'm sure we can think of something to save the restaurant."

Suddenly, the sound of the band starting up made Eren look up. Eren studied the guitarist. Everyone else in the band weren't very significant looking, a girl and two other guys. But the guitarist...

He had hair shaven in an odd-looking undercut, black as a raven's feathers. His eyes looked cold and calculating, he looked kind of scary despite how short he was. Eren was taller than him by quite a bit.

Of course, Eren was attracted instantly.

So that's why, directly after the show, they ended up in the same bathroom stall together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the weird formatting/text. I've been having issues with my computer and Word just doesn't want to cooperate today. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! What's in for Hanji and Carla next? Who is this band member....? Ha-ha, just kidding. You guys probably know who I'm talking about. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!
> 
> Cheers, and until next time!
> 
> xoxo,  
> rlb190

**Author's Note:**

> Ookay, new story, new site time! I actually finished this whole story save for the last two chapters so I'll be posting about once or twice a week until it's done!  
> There is not a lot of centric stories on Carla, so I really want to focus on her and her struggles.... I think it gives a new perspective.... who knows?  
> This is an AU so.... imagine everyone is about 19-30 (Hanji is 30, Eren is 19, Carla is in her late 40's)
> 
> Everyone will be showing up eventually, so keep an eye out~!
> 
> As always, question everything dear readers


End file.
